The kids clothing at some stores look almost identical when you hold them up together. Hmm.

And gallo pointed out in Advice for Moms that the size charts usually show the same weight range for the sizes. She was wondering if the difference might be with the cut.

She's right. The experts (including our moms, of course) say to think of size 24M as something you would buy for an 18-24 month old. You probably don't want to buy that size for a child who is already 2 and will probably outgrow it fairly quickly.

Shirts in size 24M tends to be a bit shorter, moms report. Pants in
that size are a little wider in the waist (to accommodate bulky diapers)
and shorter legs. 24M pants also usually have elastic waists as opposed
to snaps and zippers -- some may even have the snaps up and down the
leg for easy diaper changes.